1990 was the hottest year on record in Charleston, West Virginia with an average annual temperature of 58.4 FNineteen daily high temperature records were broken during the year.

There is about as much temperature
contrast across West Virginia from east to west as
there is in twice the distance from north to south. This condition
prevails throughout the year, though it varies in magnitude with the
seasons and cannot be expected to hold every day. Here the general
effect of the topography is clear: locations in the mountainous belt,
regardless of their latitude, tend to have lower temperatures than
those in the rest of the State and combined with their average winter
minimum temperatures range from the low 20s (Fahrenheit) in the
mountains of Central and Northeastern parts of the State, to near 30 in
the extreme southern and southwestern portions of the State., while
winter annual maximums range from 40 in the mountains to 45° F in the
southern portions of the State. Extremely cold temperatures are
possible with several of the mountain based stations having record low
temperatures in the -30s. The coldest temperature ever recorded in West Virginia was
-37° F.

Spring and autumn mean temperatures
average in the 50s, with similar geographical variations. The average
date of the last freezing temperature in spring ranges from mid-April
in the southwest to mid-May in the mountains; the first occurrence of
32° F in the fall varies from late September to late October.

Despite what has been said about the
coolness of the mountains, they can on occasion be as hot as any other
part of West Virginia.
Temperatures of nearly or over 100° F have been recorded at all
observing stations in the State, up to 112° F at Martinsburg. On the
average, however, summer temperatures range between 79 and 85 depending
on latitude and elevation.

West
Virginia precipitation
averages and extremes, precipitation and temperature extremes for all U.S.
states and Top
10 U.S. climate extremes
Data source: National Climatic Data Center